Braces by Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez allowed Inter Miami to win for the first time in five league matches.
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi each finished with two goals and an assist to lead Inter Miami to a 4-2 home victory over CF Montreal in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Inter Miami (7-3-5, 26 points) secured a win for only the second time in its past nine matches across all competitions. Wednesday’s result also snapped a four-match winless streak in league play to move up to sixth in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Eastern Conference.
Montreal (1-10-5, 8 points) lost for the second time in its past three matches.
Suarez had not scored since Miami’s last victory on May 3 and had only two goals in MLS matches this season.
The star striker doubled that total with back-to-back tallies in the 68th and 71st minutes, which proved to be decisive in Miami securing three much-needed points against Montreal.
Suarez’s first goal was set up by a brilliant play by Messi, who controlled possession near the end line and drew a defender before looping a ball to a wide-open Suarez, who comfortably fired a point-blank shot past Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
Three minutes later, Suarez came racing in and intercepted a ball that tapped off the foot of Montreal’s George Campbell, and the Uruguayan forward fired another shot past Sirois to give Inter Miami a 3-0 edge.
Montreal’s Dante Sealy ruined Miami’s clean sheet when he tapped a ball home past Inter Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari in the 74th minute off a feed from Caden Clark. It was Sealy’s second goal of the season.
But Messi ended Montreal’s slim hopes of a comeback when he fired a close-range shot into the back of the net off a precise cross from Suarez in the 87th minute.
Messi delivered his first goal in the 27th minute when Sergio Busquets dropped the ball to him near the box. Messi worked the ball to the top of the box and fired a long-distance shot past Sirois.
Sealy earned an assist along with Fernando Alvarez on Montreal’s second goal by Victor Loturi, which came in the second minute of stoppage time.
Inter Miami’s victory, while needed, was costly. A squad already playing without midfielder Yannick Bright, had three starters – Jordi Alba, Gonzalo Lujan and Tomas Aviles – all leave the game in the first half due to injuries.
